Next Article →COUNTER-TERRORISM: A Serious Shortage Of ProductNovember 16, 2010: With its fleet of Cold War era warships falling apart, Russia realizes it cannot built enough replacement ships quickly enough. So some of these older ships will be refurbished. The largest of these are the Slava class cruisers. Three entered service in the 1980s, and a fourth was launched in 1990, but soon had construction halted. The uncompleted ship is in Ukraine, but is now going to be completed, for service in the Russian navy.

The planned refurbishment will upgrade the engines and other mechanical components, as well as missiles and electronics. It will probably take most of the decade to complete the work, including the completion of the fourth ship. Currently, one of these cruisers (the Varyag) serves as the flagship of the Pacific Fleet.